OT, but useful

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about this, and neither did a lot of the computer people I talked to about it, so here's a heads-up:

Between 1998 and 2003, Dell used non-standard motherboards and power supplies custom-designed for them by Intel. They look like they're ATX-compatible, but they're not -- there's a proprietary connector in there somewhere, and a few other things. You might manage to get a standard ATX power supply to talk to a Dell motherboard, but they'll blow each other up pretty quickly.

I have to go return a power supply to the local computer store because the guy who sold it to me didn't know about this, even though I told him I had a three-year-old Dell and brought in the old supply for him to look at (guess he didn't look hard enough at the connectors, though he checked the screw holes). Hopefully this information will help some of you folks out in the future, though I can tell you that your Dell owners looking to replace or upgrade will not be happy to hear about this.

(Before anyone goes off on me for owning a Dell, my dad bought it for me, and I wasn't about to argue with the man holding the wallet. Next time, I'm building my own.)

EDIT: I seem to have fucked up my computer real good... check here for details. Damnit...

Comments

[lrdjester.livejournal.com]

This is why I tend to stay with Clones. Although, with the prices of computers dropping so fast, I am almost inclined to treat them as disposables.

Thanks for the heas up.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Compaqs are (were?) the same. Whenever we have a mobo die at work, we have to replace near enough the whole PC. Drives me nuts. Finally, though, we're beginning to phase the Compaqs out as of next week. 30 down, 80 to go... :)

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

For some reason, I have not been able to find where Dell sells replacement parts, and we're out of warranty so we can't do that. I mean, what the hell is the point of proprietary technology if you're not selling the replacement parts? Sheesh.

Oh, and mine has an extra six-pin plug for the motherboard, except it looks more like a big floppy connector. Weird.

[dmsalem00.livejournal.com]

cumaean, call tech support and ask for the spare parts dept phone number. The call is free.

And the extra 4pin, to my understanding, is an extra power connector specific to muscled-up P4 chips.

Just be glad Dell ships real OS cds and not those damn "recovery disks"

Almost correct.

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

It's not a 4 pin connector, it's a 6 pin conenctor, and the 6 pin AUX plug on the Antec supplies will fit, but will blow up the board, just like the 20 pin "ATX" connector of a standard PSU will fit but will blow up a Dell board, as will Dell PSU used on a standard ATX Mobo.

The 4-pin square connector is a P4 connector and by the time boards started using them, Dell went to a standard ATX PSU.

[xdownfornowx.livejournal.com]

I tried to put a dell mobo in an atx case and found that there was no way in hell that it would work. The mount points didnt line up and used slots and latches instead of the standard screws. Not to mention that I would have had to dremmel the back of the case because the ports on the mobo in an odd spot. live and learn.

[dmsalem00.livejournal.com]

That's because most Dell mobo's(the optiplexes at least) are attached to metal sleds that come out of the case. Not too sure if the lower-end dimensions do this, but I know the opti's and dim 8xxx series do.

Details!

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

HERE! (http://upgradingandrepairingpcs.com/articles/2001/upgrade3_01_01.asp)

A Dell proprietary PSU has a 20 Pin ATX style connector but with totally different wiring colors and pin assignments. In addition, it has a 6-pin connector that has the 3.3V rail on the three blue wires and ground on the three black wires.

The result is that you can only use a Dell PSU with a dell board, and vice versa. And this makes the baby Jesus cry.

The harness from a standard ATX PSU will fit into the socket on a Dell board. High-end supplies even have a 6-pin connector (called the AUX connector) that fits the extra socket on a Dell board...

...But if you match a standard PSU to a Dell board, or a standard board to a Dell PSU, you will let the magic smoke (and flames) out of both if you so much as plug it in. Dell even went so far as to design it so there is a ground is where PS_ON should be. The result being as soon as AC is supplied, PS_ON will ground and the power supply will immediately provide RICH CHUNKY VOLTS to all the wrong places.

Re: Details!

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Dude, okay, I connected a standard PSU to a Dell mobo, and it didn't work. No magic smoke. It just didn't work. Did I burn out my mobo? Fuck...